Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Jan 1988
Physical activity and mental health in the United States and Canada: evidence from four population surveys.
Secondary analysis of four surveys was carried out in order to examine the association of physical activity and various aspects of mental health in the household populations of the United States and Canada. Level of physical activity was shown to be positively associated with general well-being, lower levels of anxiety and depression, and positive mood. This relationship is independent of the effects of socioeconomic status and physical health, and described younger and older members of both sexes. ⋯ The robustness of this conclusion stems from the nature of the data sources: four population samples in two countries over the span of 10 years in which physical activity levels were assessed by four techniques and psychological status was assessed by six distinct scales. Although the surveys are cross-sectional, the most plausible explanation for the results is that physical activity enhances mental health in certain respects. Data on the comparative effects of recreation and housework suggest that quality of time, and not mere energy expenditure, must be taken into account in attempts to explain the psychological benefits of physical activity.
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The effect of pipe and cigar smoking on lung cancer risk is reviewed using data from an ongoing hospital-based, case-control study of smoking-related cancers. Data from 2,085 patients with histologically defined lung cancer and 3,948 matched controls interviewed between 1977 and 1984 were analyzed. Cigar and pipe smokers experienced much lower lung cancer risks than cigarette smokers. ⋯ The odds ratio for those smoking 5 to 9 cigars or pipes per day was 3.2 and for those smoking 10 or more units 6.7. The odds ratio of those cigar or pipe smokers who inhaled was 12.3. The proportion of Kreyberg I cancers was higher in cigar and pipe smokers than in cigarette smokers.